TOULOUSE IS SO TECH II

TIC Valley batiment1

Start-up Genome (curators of the start-up community) and Telefonica digital (the digital innovatory arm of O2 parent company Telefonica) published a very informative map of the global start-up ecosystem. Tel Aviv ranked 2nd (right after Silicon Valley) with London ranking 7th, Paris surprisingly 11th and Berlin coming in at 15th.

With this in mind we believe that within a few years Toulouse could also fare well amongst its bigger rivals, but first we need to check out its profile.

Toulouse: Local Profile (Figures from INSEE 2009):
• Urban population: 440,400 inhabitants 4th largest in France after Paris, Marseille and Lyon
• Density 3,722/ km2 (9,638 sq miles)
• With an average growth rate of +1.87% p.a. within the metropolitan areas we are witnessing a city growing more culturally diverse.
• The local economy is very robust and boasts aerospace, I.T., agronomy and biotechnology as its key inhabitant industries.
• Education appears high on its credentials with having the third largest student population and being voted the best city to study in France by French Newspaper “L’Etudiant”.

Toulouse: Potential strengths

The start-up ecosystem report published late last year condemned Paris for not being exactly ‘yet much of a magnet for out of town entrepreneurs’, in other words Paris is failing to attract talent from abroad, which is an important condition permitting an ecosystem like Silicon Valley to grow.

Here’s where we think Toulouse could have an advantage.

With a near bridge to the Iberica coast we believe that Toulouse is correctly situated to attract ‘out of town entrepreneurs’. We look to the north of Spain for entrepreneurial activity.
On an earlier exploration to Bilbao’s start-up ecosystem last year, we met with several entrepreneurs and marketing academics who told us a lot about the growing phenomenon of entrepreneurship and innovation within the region. This came with startling facts of youth unemployment, up by a staggering 50% in 2012.
With Bilbao only 441 km away from Toulouse we believe that both regions could leverage off of their close proximity in an effort to boost levels of entrepreneurship and innovation.

Now let’s take a look at Toulouse’s local start-ups:

1) SIGFOX

SIGFOX (mentioned in our previous article) secured a €10 million series B funding in September last year led by Intel Capital (the corporate venturing unit of US-based chipmaker Intel) together with existing investors Elaia Partners, Partech Ventures International and Ixo Private Equity. SIGFOX is one of the 150 investment deals secured in 2012 by Intel. (Source: Global Corporate Venturing)

2) NOOMEO

NOOMEO (another member of the TIC Valley, specialising in building and selling 3D scanning solutions) agreed on a strategic partnership with CIMPA a major international company in PLM (Product Life Cycle Management) wholly owned by AIRBUS.

At the beginning of January it was announced that this agreement will provide a brand new service, combining ‘iDamageFolio’ (CIMPA’s software) and NOOMEO’s 3D Technology.

Here’s how it works:
In an unfortunate event of ‘AOG’ (Aircraft on Ground), every single airline operator using AIRBUS’s aircrafts can rely on this service to quickly assess/ measure the extent of the aircraft’s structural damage. Acquired last year by ERCO Finances, NOOMEO will now be opened to AIRBUS’s global market reach.

3) VIHA Concept

Despite having to secure funding outside of Toulouse’s borders Laurent Villerouge in his start-up, VIHA Concept designed a sidewalk named Trotelec, which captures the energy created by our daily movements and used it to generate power for street lighting. He eventually sold his IP to Harvest NRG (a Californian based energy firm) for an undisclosed sum last year.

In addition to the above examples below are a few other start-ups who recently secured funding in the month of January:

•Phonitive, mobile software development start-up raised €400k from Capitole
Angels and DP Invest.
•BuyBox, social payment solution provider for on-line retailers raised €1.7 million from Venture Capital firms IRIS Capital and Midi Capital.
•UBLEAM (resident at TIC Valley), creators of a customised 3D technology which is an alternative to QR code for mobile marketing raised €550k from two family offices in the luxury industry and retail sector.

After much evaluation of Toulouse’s value chain ecosystem and the ‘clusters’ that are beginning to emerge, we think it’s fair to say that the future is looking pretty bright for the ‘pink city’. Toulouse is a burgeoning city with strong links to the global economy, a solid infrastructure, a growing multicultural diverse population (attracting outsiders from other regions) and not to mention an excellent educational system. All of which are key factors contributing towards the development and growth of a successful start-up ecosystem. However at the top end of the chain lie the two most important components, ‘talent’ and ‘funding’. These two elements need to coincide to increase the numbers of ‘clusters’ eventually contributing towards a strong ecosystem.

All of our thoughts, analysis and opinions are based on research that we have developed after reading, listening and meeting only a few but rather important key players within the local ecosystem. As our journey comes to an end we would like to say a huge thank you to you all.

For all those other aspiring starts ups, privately or publicly funded incubators/accelerators and academic initiatives that we’ve not mentioned, feel free to tell us about them, we will be happy to spread the word.

To round things up ‘Le Camping Toulouse’ will be opening the second edition of its program in May and is currently welcoming applications from all over the world .

Stay tuned to LAB58 for further updates if you happen to be interested.

‘Toulouse is so tech…’

TOULOUSE IS SO TECH

all.nov_camping (1)_Toulouseissotech

There is so much more to France than just Paris.
Burgeoning cities like Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon and Nice count for a lot, both economically and politically.

Toulouse is a perfect example, a city set in the Haute-Garonne region of France, located on the south western fringes of the country. Known for its spatial distribution of economic activity, localised processes and infrastructure, setting the scene for what Michael Porter in The Competitive Advantage of Nations (1990) describes as a ‘cluster’ (which means, “a geographical concentration of interconnected firms and institutions in a particular field). Synonymous to the Silicon Valley and Hollywood, Porter’s concept provides an idyllic setting where technological development, innovation and competition, become key features of this great ‘pink city’.

Toulouse is at the centre of the European aerospace industry, with household names such as Airbus (a world leading aircraft manufacturer) the subsidiary of EADS (a global aerospace and defence company).
On the life sciences front Toulouse is also well known for being one of the greatest contributors to the cancer research programme in Europe.

In fact we chose Toulouse as the unlikely destination for a deserved end of year retreat not only because of its renowned mild temperatures in the winter and the taste of the Tariquet (locally produced excellent white wine known for its engaging taste) but because we had a real sense that this dynamic region was on the verge of a cosmic technological/innovative explosion. Our first stop, TIC Valley!

‘La TIC Valley’

TIC Valley (Technology of Information and Communication) is based in Labège (south east of Toulouse) it resembles a very smart college campus (without the cheerleaders), playing home to 15 innovative start-ups, totalling to around 300 hundred people.

TIC Valley lends support to Porter’s concept by providing an environment where the sharing of ideas, knowledge and resources between start-ups features high on the agenda.

Back in October of last year we were pleased to hear that TIC Valley had launched ‘Le Camping Toulouse’ a satellite of an established incubator originally based in Paris, set up by Silicon Sentier. (Le Camping is just about to kick start its 4th edition within Google’s new offices in Paris on the 28th February and they’ve been making a lot of noise since its debut so go check it out).
With Tel Aviv as its next destination we were intrigued to find out what it was about Toulouse that grabbed the attention of this prestigious incubator.

Ludovic Le Moan, CEO and co-creator of the TIC Valley and SIGFOX (one of TIC Valley’s resident start-ups) was involved in creating the concept for ‘Le Camping Toulouse’.
As CEO of SIGFOX, the first operator of cellular technology fully dedicated to machine-to-machine communication, he mentored start-ups for the first 2 editions of ‘Le Camping Paris’. Le Moan believed that something similar could be applied to Toulouse, in which he referred to the local resources and expertise that is ready available at TIC Valley and commented on how it formed a complete structure to enhance competitive growth for the tech/digital start-ups.

Those enrolled on the 6 month accelerator program, would have the chance to develop their concepts through the rules applied by the mentoring scheme, which we would aptly term as the ‘lean start up’ approach.

It seemed quite fitting to think that these entrepreneurs ‘had their minds in the sky’, (considering the region’s links to the Aerospatiale industry) but in reality we were miles away from our own expectations.
In fact, there is absolutely no harm in having your ‘mind in the sky, just as long as your feet are on the ground’, which were thoughts echoed by Fabrice Tron (CEO of Pink City Brain) who established the start-up arm of the TIC Valley.
A sentiment which now brings us nicely onto our 6 starts-ups.

Meet the Campers

These entrepreneurs are based in Toulouse and aged between 25 to 40 years. Their pre – incubator experiences range from psychomotor therapy to corporate marketing.
LAB58 is clearly inviting you all to get involved and to follow their concepts. We met them back in December of last year during the first stages of their mentoring program. Therefore in no particular order here are a few words describing the initiatives of the 6 start-ups who are expected to graduate from the program by the end of next month.

1) Meet my designer
This is a smart crowd funding platform for fashion entrepreneurs within the market. Their aim is to help budding fashion entrepreneurs obtain funding to finance projects ranging from catwalk shows to trade exhibitions. Something to look out for if you are embarking on starting up in the fashion world.

2) Datarmine
The Robin Hood of data privacy, which enables users to protect their information on social networking sites for free. A topic high on Facebook’s agenda after it announced its search graph on the 15th of January (the newest way to monetize its user’s personal data).

3) GlobeWhere
An online and mobile platform specifically designed to help you customise your trip with just one simple ‘click’.

4) Calendeev
Is a new approach to the social event calendar. Calendeev is both a mobile application and a website designed to suggest the best events which appeal to your tastes and friends’ tastes thanks to a powerful recommendation engine.

5) DiaSuiteBox
Provides a store filled with applications that combine the functionalities of home automation devices and web services.

6) Mobirider
Is an innovative point-of-sale device that uniquely identifies and interacts with any mobile phone, regardless of its technology, whether NFC-enabled, a smart-phone or not. With no apps to download, or QR code to flash, Mobirider enables the user to just use their mobile the way it is.

Overall we believe that Toulouse has a great value chain ecosystem which will strengthen over time. As it makes its appearance on the Tech list map, we expect more things to come out of Toulouse over the coming years. Potentially competing against Paris as having the best start-up ecosystem in France.

Please stay tuned for the second article on, ‘Toulouse is so Tech’!

FIRST POST OF THE YEAR

First post of the year_PIC2

We at LAB58 would like to send you our most sincere wishes for 2013.

We are still dedicated to bringing you a monthly analysis of global themes surrounding , innovation, entrepreneurship and venture capital.

Over the past couple of months we have developed an increasing interest into the European start-up scene shortly after Telefonica Digital and Start up Genomes published a world map of the ecosystem.

We were delighted to meet and interact with start–ups based in London’s infamous ‘tech roundabout’, at a Yammer event which we attended back in November. At the beginning of the year we also attended a very busy and informative start-up event organised by Dex.io and Capital Enterprise on Google’s Campus.

Our venture to the south western region of France late last year involved a visit to the ’TIC Valley’ (Technology of Information and Communication) campus based in the city of Toulouse. Which brings us nicely onto our two-part story which explores the Toulouse start-up ecosystem and how it competes with Paris and potentially the rest of the world.

Make sure you do not miss our ‘Toulouse is so Tech’ editions.

Life sciences will be explored within our first semester of the year as we will be giving insights into our meeting with Professor Frederic Galacteros, head of research for Sickle cell at C.H.U Henri Mondor Creteil. Exploring the topic of Sickle cell research.

On a more cultural note we would like to officially bring our support to ‘NollywoodWeek’ festival taking place in Paris at the end of May. It’s worth adding that Nollywood is no less than the third largest cinematographic industry in the world after Hollywood and Bollywood. It seems fitting that the first ever festival, dedicated to its cinema, has finally come to life.

Follow us on twitter for more updates @ LAB58_London

THE COLLEGE DROP OUT

COLLEGEDROPOUT_Goofy

President Barack Obama once said, “no matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it.”

Education is in fact a basic necessity, a basic human right. The evolution of culture and the human race depends on the practice of knowledge.

Schools therefore play an important role in providing a foundation of knowledge and harnessing a child’s skill set and educational development, to prepare it for the ‘bigger world’ or the ‘world of capitalism,’ as we would like to put it.

The phenomenon of ‘massification’

Whether you have dreams of becoming a lawyer, doctor or a young professional in today’s society, higher education offers young people the chance to improve their future prospects and quality of life.

In a world where individualism and competitiveness are two highly praised values, reports are showing a steady increase in the numbers of young people turning to higher education, in a bid to secure a more ‘comfortable future’. Business schools in particular from across the globe have seen a dramatic rise in admissions since the mid 1990’s. Mass demand can be attributed to the shift to post-industrial economies, the rise of service industries and the knowledge economy.

Masters of Business Administration (MBA)

Who can deny it, the profile of a graduate or post graduate holding an MBA is far more appealing to those in the world of finance and business.

They are the ‘best of the best’, the ‘entrepreneurs of the future.’ You have big companies showing them love right after and sometimes before they’ve even obtained their diplomas.

After all many of the venture capitalists hold MBAs, my question is, is it really compulsory to add it after your name on your business card?
On a more serious note, it is still important to ask whether an MBA guarantees that you’ll possess a strong business acumen, have a better understanding of budgeting, selling, market, pricing & corporate strategy. Have excellent communication skills and be an outstanding team player.

Is business school the fast track to succeeding in the world of business?

A brief look at the names behind the biggest success stories in business clearly proves the opposite.

Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Marc Zuckenberg are just some of many who have never received a university diploma as a result of sitting on the class bench. They have however managed to successfully sell their vision, products and services to a vast consumerist world.

In his latest book ‘Like a Virgin secrets they won’t teach at business school’. Britain’s most famous entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson imparts the necessary skills needed to build a much diversified empire that he is heading today.

From music label (launched in the 1970’s) to the recently announced $200million ‘Virgin Green fund’( investing in Eastern Europe, Turkey and Russian airline ventures) Richard Branson has re-invented the notion of ‘diversification’.

How could we forget Nick D’Aloiso, the young founder of Summly who launched an innovative iPhone app on his 17th birthday back in November? Successfully raising over a $1million from a range of venture capital funds not to mention investment from the infamous Rupert Murdock.

So is it cool to be a ‘school drop out’ if you’re a budding entrepreneur?

Ron Conway a veteran in Silicon Valley stated that he prefers investing in 17 to 18 years olds because he likes seeing them evolve.

Peter Thiel, a former derivatives trader, co-founder of PayPal, early investor in Facebook with a collection of a few other fantastic start ups is one of the most respected Silicon Valley investor. He too has a clear view on education and college. For him school is not a mandatory step when it comes to entrepreneurship.

“The world’s hardest problems aren’t going to solve themselves. If you have a great idea, the right time to work on it isn’t four years off—it’s now,” said Thiel.

He went a step further a year ago when he first announced the ‘Thiel Fellowship’, an organisation that basically gives $100,000 and a mentoring support programme to 20 youngsters under the age of 20. (Applications for 2013 are due on 31st December 2012, we urge you to submit ground breaking visions if you believe that they are worth it. After all you have absolutely nothing to lose).

MIT (Massachusetts Industry of Technology) admissions office reportedly congratulated two students after they announced dropping out of school to pursue their ‘Thiel fellowship’ scholarships back in 2011. The same admissions office then went ahead to offer them a placement after they had finished their mentoring programme.

What a twist of fate to be offered a future placement by the same school you dropped out of.

Such a shame that most of us here at LAB58 were born a few years too soon. We would have loved the opportunity to share a couple of ideas with Mr Thiel and his team.

Until next time!

Very Interesting additional reading:

http://www.economist.com/debate/debates/overview/241

http://www.thielfellowship.org/

http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/incentive_to_drop_out

http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/08/is-an-mba-a-plus-or-a-minus-in-the-startup-world/

READY STEADY… INNOVATE

The London 2012 Olympics was a fantastic experience and one that will be remembered for many years to come. Here at LAB58 there are 3 things that we would like to remember:

1) The Human body: How an athlete’s ‘peak performance’ shows no boundaries

Discussions have flourished amongst scientists throughout the Olympics concerning the performance of athletes and limits to what the human body can achieve.

The human body is capable of incredible feats, we have evolved to run faster learned how to maximise our swimming speed and to twist and turn through the air with power and grace. With no less than 25 world records broken this year, behind every single one was a team of coaches, scientists and doctors all working diligently to create an Olympian who can be that extra millimetre faster. Most of the 25 world records set were seen across highly regarded disciplines such as athletics, swimming and cycling.

But what about team sports?

Yes, they did pretty well too.

32 years after the controversial loss against the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republic), the undersized USA basketball team made it very clear that speed could beat height and that outstanding offensive skill was enough to win the Olympic gold.

The NBA (National Basketball Association) America’s first professional basketball league, has never been as internationally well represented as it is now. Nevertheless this year with its All Star line-up, the USA Basketball team as a whole (Men & Women) have proven to the world that they are still masters of the sport.

2) Nike: The King of Sport Sponsorship

The Olympics would not have been the same without its sponsors.

Nike clearly widened the gap with its competitors. Just a year after opening their Venture capital fund, “Sustainable Business Innovation lab’’ (a strategic partnership team within the brand to help drive collaboration and innovation as it relates to sustainability), Nike has since come up with very noticeable results.

All track and field federations sponsored by Nike during the 2012 Olympics had their uniforms made from recycled plastic bottles.

Abel Kiriu’s singlet worn by the Kenyan champion at the Men’s marathon’s final on the 12th August had something more. The Kenyan colours featured on the singlet were added using an innovative water free dyeing process. To achieve this Nike strategically partnered with Dye Coo, a Netherlands-based company that developed and built the first commercially viable waterless textile dyeing machine.

Pushing the ecological barriers even further within their textile production.

3) Inspiration: Big things come in small packages

Big nations from a GDP and demographic perspective like China, USA & Russia were dominant in the medals table.

However it was the not so rich nations that caught our attention showing huge potential and positive signs of overall improvement.
Jamaica is an incredible example of a country of under 3 million people who performed well above the standard of what you would expect from such a small country.
Jamaica has produced world class athletes in track and field but only recently came with outstanding results.
70% percent of the Olympics medals won by the country came after P.J Patterson (former Prime minister) first took in the office in 1992.

Its economic and social policy agenda that aimed to mitigate, reduce poverty, social deprivation & youth awareness clearly supported sport.
In fact Jamaica has shown that education and sport should be the backbone of any policy in favour of youth.
A couple of other nations also showed positive signs with winning their first Olympic medals. Athletes hailing from countries that very few of us could place on the map have made their very own respective nations proud.

Kirani James won Granada’s first gold medal in the Men’s 400m and Anthony Obame took home Gabon’s only silver medal in the Men’s Taekwondo.
Erick Barrono also finished second in the 20 km walk race to bring home the first Olympic medal to Guatemala.

If we can’t all expect to represent our country in a major sporting event, the 2012 Olympics has shown that there are no limits to our human capabilities and that through hard work and dedication we can achieve our goals.

So for all you fitness enthusiasts, inspired by the games and thinking of improving your fitness and performance , why not consider Nike’s new offering the ‘Fuel band’ a performance tracking device to aid your training sessions. This ingenious gadget records performance statistics and places them on a platform, which enables you to compare with friends, family or even sporting legends past and present.

It might be worth checking out.

Here’s to London, for hosting the most incredible show on earth.

See you in Rio!

Welcome to LAB58

LAB58

LAB58 is a new initiative which provides a platform for discussion and an exchange of ideas across a broad spectrum of the following topics
ENTREPRENEURSHIP X INNOVATION X CULTURE AND LIFESTYLE X SPECIAL PROJECTS

Reasons behind the name LAB58
‘Lab’ is a place where material, concept and substance is thoroughly observed, analysed and sampled where content findings are then leveraged to a wider audience.

58 as in ‘58 K’ (£58,000) our potential opportunity cost in pursuing this new initiative.